Sofa-bed hinge mechanism



Oct. 22, 1963 3, s o s 3,107,363

SOFA-BED HINGE MECHANISM Filed July 25, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V ENTOR.

Oct. 22, 1963 c. P. SIMMONS SOFA-BED HINGE MECHANISM Oct. 22, 1963 4Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent 3,107,363 SOFA-BED HENGE MEQHANISMCharles I. Simmons, Box 914, Americas, Ga. Filed July 25, 1960, Ser. No.45,172 2 Claims. (Cl. 5-41) This invention relates, broadly, toconvertible furniture such, primarily, as sofa-beds, and it has specialreference to the hinge mechanism joining the seat and back members of asofa-bed or the like, and to the apparatus by means of which the seatand back members may be automatically adjusted from bed position toseating position, and vice versa, upon proper manipulation of the seatmember.

The invention relates, further, to leg means pivotally attached to theseat member adjacent to the front edge thereof, and means cooperatingwith such leg means to project them into ground contacting arrangementto support the front portion of the seat member in bed position, and toretract them beneath the seat member when in seating position, suchcooperating means being automatically actuated by the adjusting meansfor the seat and back members when such members are changed from bedposition to seating position, and vice versa.

All conventional sofa-bed or so-called dual purpose hinges now availableare so constructed that their pivot points have to be located at leastfour inches above the top surfaces of the so-called spring box frames onwhich the upholstery springs are mounted and to which the halves of thehinges are attached. This is due to the fact that the conventionaljack-knife or pull-over levers employed for controlling the hinge motionmust be below the pivot points of the hinges in order to functionproperly.

This causes the back member to ride higher than is disered for someaccepted types of sofa-beds for which the mechanism of the presentinvention is particularly designed.

One object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a hingemechanism and actuating means for sofabeds and the like in which thepivot point of such hinge mechanism need be no more than seven-eighthsof an inch, and may indeed be less, above the spring box frames referredto.

Thus, for example, when a 24 /2 inch seat member and a 20 /2 inch backmember are used they will, when in bed position provide a bed width,orspring supported sleeping surface, of 45 inches with a length, say 72inches,

more or less, depending upon the length of the sofa-bed between the armsthereof. However, when these parts are in the seating position theusable spring cushion portion of the seat member will be reduced to 21inches and that of the back member to 17 inches, thus providing a moresightly and comfortable sofa than has heretofore been possible.

Furthermore, the arrangement of the seat and back members with theirhinge and adjusting mechanisms according to the present invention makespossible the provision of a sofa-bed which does not have to be movedaway from a wall in order to adjust its parts from seating position tobed position, and vice versa.

Also, the small height required for operating area of the machinasm ofthe invention makes it especially well adapted for use in Modern, EarlyAmerican, Victorian, and Swedish designs when a thin-line or low frontbase rail, say not to exceed four inches, is required for sofas andsectional pieces.

Another object of the invention is to provide for rigidly locking theback member in seating position without the necessity of separatelyoperated or adjusted locking elements.

A further object is to provide the leg means hereinbefore referred towhich are made to function automatically in response to adjustment ofthe seat and back members from seating position to bed position, andvice versa.

Still another object is to provide resilient or spring means connectingthe halves of the hinges in such a manner as to normally bias the seatand back members to seating position, but so related to the hinge pivotas preferably to be inactive when these members are in bed position, theeffectiveness of the resilient or spring means in these respects beingadjustable for dead-centering or over dead-centering of their axis ofexpansion and contraction with respect to the hinge pivot.

Another object is to provide hinge and adjusting mechanisms which willfunction with a floating action or effect, without dead moments orbinding when the positions of the seat and back members are altered,thus making for free and relatively effortless manual operation.

Another object is to so simplify the design of the hinge and actuatingmechanism that it may be of considerably less weight than knownapparatus for a similar purpose, thus tending to lighten the furnitureand reduce the cost of the mechanism. Furthermore, the simplification ofdesign serves to practically eliminate the chance of malfunction of themechanism.

With the foregoing and other objects and advantages in view, the novelfeatures of the invention whereby they are accomplished will be apparentfrom the accompanying drawings, the following description and theappended claims.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invenrtion, in the severalfigures of which like parts are similarly designated, 7

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the operative mechanism of the invention,as viewed from the left-hand side of a sofa-bed, with the associatedelements in bed position,

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the elements in thepositions assumed in their initial stage of adjustment from bed positionto seating position,

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the elements fullyadjusted to seating position,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the mechanism giving aninner view of the elements at the righthand side of the sofa-bed withsuch elements in bed position,

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the elements in seatingposition,

FIG. 6 is a further enlarged fragmentary view of the mechanism in the,region of the hinge means with the elements shown in bed position as inFIG. 4, and including an assembly therewith of springs and otherupholstery parts following the teaching of applicants patent for SpringConstruction for Furniture, granted October 30, 1956, No. 2,768,390,

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, but showing the elements in seatingposition,

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the right-hand combined hinge andmounting plate for the seat member,

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the inner side of the right-hand hingeand mounting plate for the back member,

FIG. 9a is a perspective view of the outer side of the plate shown inFIG. 9, and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the inner side of the right-handmechanism mounting and guide plate carried by the supporting frame ofthe sofa-bed.

Having reference particularly to FIGS. 1 m3 and 4 to 7, it will beunderstood that the operative elements of the mechanism of the inventionare arranged in righthand and left-hand complements at the oppositesides of the sofa-bed or the like and function similarly andsimultaneously during adjustment of the seat and back members from bedposition to seating position, and vice versa, and that they serve, also,to hold these members in either .3 of their adjusted positions, as willappear from the following description.

The supporting frame for the sofa-bed or the like may be ofsubstantially conventional form, including a rear rail 1, a front rail 2having a trim piece 3, and side rails 4 rigidly joined to the ends ofthe rear and front rails 1 and 2 to thus provide an open rectanglewithin the con fines of which all of the operative mechanism isconfined.

Appropriate fixed legs 5, in any number and location desired, will beprovided for ground support of the supporting frame, and arm structures,not shown, will usually be provided at the sides of the frame exteriorlyof the operative mechanism and serving to conceal it.

Each of the side rails 4 carries a mechanism mounting and guide plate 6(FIGS. 4, and having a flange 7 overlying its respective rail 4 andalfixed thereto as by screws, not shown, which the flange is adapted toreceive through screw-holes 8 (FIG. 10).

Carried by the plate 6 adjacent to the ends thereof at fixed fulcralpivots 9 and 19, respectively, are first and second levers of the firstorder 11 and 12, respectively, the lower ends of which are pivotallyconnected at 13 and 14, respectively, with a longitudinally rigid link15, this link being provided at its pivot 14 with a lost motion slotconnection 16. Adjacent to its other, or upper, end the lever 11 isconnected at a relatively fixed pivot point 17 to a combined hinge andmounting plate 18 (FIG. 8) attached to the side of the seat member 19 asby screws 29. The opposite, or upper, end of the lever 12 has a lostmotion pivotal connection 21 with a combined hinge and mounting plate 22(FIGS. 9 and 9a) attached to the side of the back member 23 as by screws24. The combined hinge and mounting plates 18 and 22 are overlapped andjoined in a hinge pivot connection at 25.

The plates 18 at opposite sides of the sofa-bed are provided adjacent totheir rear ends with downwardly extending ears 26 carrying guidefollower rollers 27 engaged in guideways or slots 28 formed in thecomplemental mounting and guide plates 6 and extending from the front tothe rear thereof in downwardly inclined position.

The front ends of these plates 18, which extend adjacent to the frontedge of the seat member 19, are provided with downward extensions 29 towhich legs 30 are pivoted at 31.

The upper ends of the levers l1, outwardly of their pivot points 17 andarcuately movable thereabout, are pivotally connected at 32 with therear ends of links 33 which are provided at their opposite ends withpins 34 engaged in guideway slots 35 in the legs and in guideways 36 inthe extensions 29, the forward end portions of said guideways 36 beingin the form of arcs 37 concentric with the pivots 31 of the legs 30.

For stop cooperation with the opposite edges of the levers 12 when theback member is in seating position (FIG. 5), the plates 6 are providedwith stop lugs 38, and the hinge plates 22 are provided with stop pins39.

Springs 40 spanning the hinge pivots 25 and adjustably attached to aselected one of a plurality of anchor pins 41 on the hinge plates 18 ofthe seat member and attached to an anchor pin 42 on the hinge plates 22of the back member 23 serve normally to bias the seat and back membersto seating position, but it will be noted that when these members are inthe bed position these springs will preferably assume such a pastdead-center position as to make this biasing ineffective until initialmovement of the members toward seating position (see FIG. 2). Obviously,the effect of the springs 40 can be varied somewhat in accommodation tothe weight and other opera tive characteristics of the assembly by theselection of those anchor pins 41 to which their forward ends'areconnected to thus facilitate the bed-to-seat position shifting of theparts, and springs of various force can be provided to this end whennecessary or desired.

It will be noted, having reference especially to FIGS.

6 and 7, that the hinge mechanism of the invention is particulmly welladapted to accommodate spring and upholstery assemblies in accordancewith applicants Patent No. 2,768,390 hereinbefore referred to, inasmuchas there is no crowding of the seat and back cushions when the parts arein seating position due to the pivot point 25 of the hinge being muchcloser to the spring-mounting seat and back members 19 and 23 than iscustomary in furniture of this type.

The operation of the mechanism of the invention will, it is thought, beapparent from the foregoing description, but it may, nevertheless, bedescribed briefly as follows:

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, and assuming that the seat and back membersare to be shifted from the bed position (FIGS. 1 and 4) to the scatposition (FIGS. 3 and 5), first the forward edge of the seat member islifted about six inches and, at the same time, pushed rearwardly (FIG.2). This initial movement will be transmitted through the lever and linkconnections to impart relative pivotal movement to the seat and backmembers upon their hinge pivots 25 thus bringing into play the biasingaction of the springs 40 and, at the same time, through the cooperationof the pins 34 of the links 33 with the arcuate portions 37 of theguideways 36 and the slots 35 of the legs 30, causing the legs to begintheir pivotal upward folding movement.

As rearward pressure upon the seat member is continued the guidefollowers 27 will follow the guideways 28, thus slightly lowering therear portion of the seat member to conventional seating position, theback member 23 being simultaneously raised by the levers 12, throughtheir connection with the levers 11 by the links 15, until, upon fullerection of the back member the levers 12 will be abutted on theiropposite edges, and locked in position, by the lugs 38 and pins 39 ofthe frame and back members, respectively.

When the parts are in this final adjustment to seating position the rearand front of the seat member will be supported by the ear means as,guide followers 27 and guidew-ays 28, and by the trim piece 3,respectively, and the legs 30 will have been folded upwardly and thusrctained by travel of the pins 34 of the links 33 in the complementalportions of the guideways 36 and leg slots 35.

In order to shift from the seating position to the bed position thefront edge of the seat member is raised and pulled forward thus causingthe lever and link connections to be reversely actuated.

It will be apparent that in response to the lifting of the front edge ofthe seat member and pushing or pulling it for shifting of the parts, asabove described, the operation of the lever and link adjustingmechanisms will function automatically, easily and smoothly, and withoutbinding. This shifting action may properly be defined as a floatingmovement, inasmuch as the hinge-joined seat and back memberssubstantially float upon a six-point support furnished by the two guidefollower rollers 27 in the guideways 28 and the four fulcral pivots 9, 9and 16, 10 of the levers 11 and 12 respectively.

It will be noted, moreover, that while the levers 12 are turningclockwise the levers 11 are also turning clockwise, and vice versa, thusmaking possible full travel of these levers to effect change inadjustment of the seat and back members while they travel from front torear of the supporting frame through the relatively short distancedefined by the length of the guideways 28.

Also, the shifting movement of the back member 23 from seating positionto bed position, and vice versa, is such that the back member does notproject rearwardly of the rear rail 1 of the supporting frame, and hencewhen the sofa-bed is backed against a wall it need not be moved awayfrom the wall to make the change from seating position to bed position,and vice versa.

Various changes and modifications are considered to be within theprinciple of the invention and the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a sofa-bed and the like article of furniture having a supportingframe and a seat member and a back member supported by said frame andmovable relatively there to and to each other from relative angularseating position to relative horizontally aligned hed position and viceversa, hinge means joining said seat member and back member at theircontiguous edges at opposite ends thereof, and means for adjusting saidseat member and back member from seating position to bed position andvice versa during their relative hinging movement and for ultimatelyoptional-1y supporting said members in their seating or bed position,said adjusting means comprising guideway means carried by saidsupporting frame and extending between points adjacent to the front andrear thereof, guide follower means carried by said seat member andcooperating with said tguideway means, a first lever of the first orderhaving the fulcral point intermediate its ends provided with a fixedpivot on and adjacent to one end or" said supporting frame and pivotallyconnected adjacent to .one of its ends with said seat member, a secondlever of the first order having the tulcral point intermediate its endsprovided "with a fixed pivot on and adjacent to the opposite end of saidsupporting frame and pivotally connected adjacent to one of its endswith said back member, and a link pivotally connecting the respectiveopposite ends of said levers, whereby when said seat member is shiftedlongitudinally of and guided by said guideway means said levers and linkwill cause said back member to respond to such movement and beautomatically adjusted from its seating position to its bed position andvice versa, leg means pivotally attached to said seat member adjacent toits edge remote from said hinge means, and means for positioning saidleg means substantially normal to said seat member and ingroundcontacting arrangement when said seat member is in bed position,and in substantial parallelism with said seat member when it is inseating position, said positioning means being connected with the levermechanism of the adjusting means for said seat and back members andbeing operative automatically upon adjustment of said members fromseating position to bed position and vice versa, said positioning meansincluding an extension of said first lever outwardly of and for arcuatemovement about the pivotal connection of said first lever with said seatmember, a link having connections with said extension and leg meansrespectively, means providing for movement of the connection of saidlink with said leg means longitudinally of said leg means, and aguicleway carried by said seat means in fixed relation to the pivotalconnection of said leg means therewith, said guideway serving to guidethe connection of said link means with said leg means during arcuatemovement of said extension.

2. In sofa-bed apparatus as defined in claim 1, the connection betweensaid link and leg means comprising a pin fixed to said link, and theconnection for longitudinal movement of said link with respect to saidleg means including a guideway carried by said leg means, the travel ofsaid pin in the guideways of said seat member and leg means serving toimpart pivotal movement to said leg means.

References titted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS504,515 Boden et al. Sept. 5, 1893 730,392 Owen June 9, 1903 888,865Bennett May 26, 1908 1,132,614 Payne Mar. 23, 1915 1,743,216 HonsingerJune 14, 1930 1,815,877 Thum July 21, 1931 2,328,254 Bell Aug. 31, 19432,595,038 Woller Apr. 29, 1952 2,642,120 Cochran June 16, 1953 2,768,390Simmons Oct. 30, 1956 2,865,030 Garrick Dec. 23, 1958 2,903,046 RepaichSept. 8, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,093,873 France Nov. 24, 1954

1. IN A SOFA-BED AND THE LIKE ARTICLE OF FURNITURE HAVING A SUPPORTINGFRAME AND A SEAT MEMBER AND A BACK MEMBER SUPPORTED BY SAID FRAME ANDMOVABLE RELATIVELY THERETO AND TO EACH OTHER FROM RELATIVE ANGULARSEATING POSITION TO RELATIVE HORIZONTALLY ALIGNED BED POSITION AND VICEVERSA, HINGE MEANS JOINING SAID SEAT MEMBER AND BACK MEMBER AT THEIRCONTIGUOUS EDGES AT OPPOSITE END THEREOF, AND MEANS FOR ADJUSTING SAIDSEAT MEMBER AND BACK MEMBER FROM SEATING POSITION TO BED POSITION ANDVICE VERSA DURING THEIR RELATIVE HINGING MOVEMENT AND FOR ULTIMATELYOPTIONALLY SUPPORTING SAID MEMBERS IN THEIR SEATING OR BED POSITION,SAID ADJUSTING MEANS COMPRISING GUIDEWAY MEANS CARRIED BY SAIDSUPPORTING FRAME AND EXTENDING BETWEEN POINTS ADJACENT TO THE FRONT ANDREAR THEREOF, GUIDE FOLLOWER MEANS CARRIED BY SAID SEAT MEMBER ANDCOOPERATING WITH SAID GUIDEWAY MEANS, A FIRST LEVER OF THE FIRST ORDERHAVING THE FULCRAL POINT INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS PROVIDED WITH A FIXEDPIVOT ON AND ADJACENT TO ONE END OF SAID SUPPORTING FRAME AND PIVOTALLYCONNECTED ADJACENT TO ONE OF ITS ENDS WITH SAID SEAT MEMBER, A SECONDLEVER OF THE FIRST ORDER HAVING THE FULCRAL POINT INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDSPROVIDED WITH A FIXED PIVOT ON AND ADJACENT TO THE OPPOSITE END OF SAIDSUPPORTING FRAME AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED ADJACENT TO ONE OF ITS ENDSWITH SAID BACK MEMBER, AND A LINK PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE RESPECTIVEOPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID LEVERS, WHEREBY WHEN SAID SEAT MEMBER IS SHIFTEDLONGITUDINALLY OF AND GUIDED BY SAID GUIDEWAYS MEANS SAID LEVERS,WHEREBY WHEN SAID BACK MEMBER TO RESPOND TO SUCH MOVEMENT AND BEAUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTED FROM ITS SEATING POSITION TO ITS BED POSITION,AND IN SUBSTANTIAL PARALLELISM WITH SAID SEAT SAID SEAT MEMBER ADJACENTTO ITS EDGE REMOTE FROM SAID HINGE MEANS, AND MEANS FOR POSITIONING SAIDLEG MEANS SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO SAID SEAT MEMBER AND INGROUNDCONTACTING ARRANGEMENT WHEN SAID SEAT MEMBER AND INGROUNDPOSITION, AND IN SUBSTANTIAL PARALLELISM WITH SAID SEAT MEMBERWHEN IT IS IN SEATING POSITION, SAID POSITIONING ADJUSTING MEANS FORSAID SEATING AND BACK MEMBERS AND BEING ADJUSTING MEANS FOR SAID SEATAND BACK MEMBERS AND BEING OPERATIVE AUTOMATICALLY UPON ADJUSTMENT OFSAID MEMBERS FROM SEATING POSITION TO BED POSITION AND VICE VERSA, SAIDPOSITIONING MEANS INCLUDING AN EXTENSION OF SAID FIRST LEVER OUTWARDLYOF AND FOR ARCUATE MOVEMENT ABOUT THE PIVOTAL CONNECTION OF SAID FIRSTLEVER WITH SAID SEAT MEMBER, A LINK HAVING CONNECTIONS WITH SAIDEXTENSION AND LEG MEANS RESPECTIVELY, MEANS PROVIDING FOR MOVEMENT OFTHE CONNECTION OF SAID LINK WITH SAID LEG MEANS LONGITUDINALLY OF SAIDLEG MEANS, AND A GUIDEWAY CARRIED BY SAID SEAT MEANS IN FIXED RELATIONTO THE PIVOTAL CONNECTION OF SAID LEG MEANS THEREWITH, SAID GUIDEWAYSERVING TO GUIDE THE CONNECTION OF SAID LINK MEANS WITH SAID LEG MEANSDURING ARCUATE MOVEMENT OF SAID EXTENSION.